May 2007 - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

British Military Police came aboard to check
for contraband.
Som had an unauthorized pistol unofficially
presented to him by some Japanese officer
in addition to a Samurai sword (officially
allotted to each officer). Somnath refused to
lie or invent a story to bluff the British officer.
He immediately threw the pistol into the sea
through a porthole. Such was his
straightforwardness!
Two years later, India became
independent, but fell prey to mad communal
fighting. With his Kumaonis, Somnath was
dispatched to aid the civil administration.
From his headquarters at Parliament Street
police station, he spent his time extinguishing
fires between the two communities—both
well armed.
To complicate the matter, streams of
refugees were pouring in wave after wave to
the capital. The Kumaon Regiment rose to
the occasion, doing their duty honestly and
impartially towards both communities. At that
time, Somnath was moving around with his
broken arm and a plaster from the wrist to
the elbow.
When his company was ordered to move
to Srinagar, Somnath, though technically
‘unfit for active duty in war’ insisted that he
had to lead his company.
Before leaving for Sringar, he spent his last
night in Delhi with Major K K Tewari, his
best friend and Burma companion, at the
Queen Victoria Road Bachelor Officers’
Mess in Delhi.
They chatted late into the night. Somnath
remarked at one point that he was going to
war again but alone this time (without his
friend). Having probably some premonition,
he asked for a memento from Tewari who
told him that he could take whatever he
wanted from the room. Somnath went straight
to the cupboard and took his automatic pistol,
a German Luger. Quite upset, Tewari had no
choice but to honour his promise.
The next morning Somnath Sharma landed
in Srinagar (where he met S K Sinha). The
situation was fast deterorating.
Two days later on November 3, the
‘raiders’ reached Badgam a few miles away
from the Srinagar airfield. Brigadier ‘Bogey’
Sen, the commander in Srinagar, immediately
dispatched Sharma and his company to
Badgam.
At 2:30 p.m. supported by 3-inch and 2-
inch mortars, a 700-strong tribal force
attacked the Indian jawans. Being
outnumbered by 7 to 1, Sharma immediately
sent a request to Brigadier Sen for
reinforcements.
19 YUVA BHARATI - May 2007